Most unusual cuisines available in New York

[lambretta76]

Staten Island has an excellenet Filipino restaurant.

Very good Filipino restaurants in Woodside as well... Krystal's and Ihawan come to mind, couple of others I believe as well...

Elvie's Turo Turo on 1st and 12th/13th in Manhattan (or thereabouts) makes a mean Chicken Adobo as well. There's a branch of Krystal's across the street and down a block or so...

[ned]

And ned - that sounds very interesting. If I'm ever in Hudson I'll check it out. Is that where most of the Bay Ridge Norwegians ended up?

Hmmm. I'm aware of Seattle Fargonians but Bay Ridge Norwegians? That must be before my time.

[jschyun]

Unusual NY cuisines? What about a place that serves Navajo fry bread?

[Pan]

Thanks for all the info, everyone! lambretta76, if you have some locations or names for some of the places you mention, that would be terrific. If not, hopefully someone else does.

jschyun, good point. What about (U.S.) Native American food in New York, of any variety?

[bleachboy]

Unusual NY cuisines? What about a place that serves Navajo fry bread?

We used to have one of these in Nashville. When I lived on 17th Ave. S, there was this place like three blocks away that served these "Indian tacos" with the puffy, utterly delicious fried bread, topped with typical pinto beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, etc. The food was nothing special, so to speak, but it was totally righteous. It was run by a bunch of folks that looked like aging Deadheads, that would be playing folk music on guitars and stuff every time my roommate and I would come in for lunch (the only meal served). They went out of business very fast, which was a bummer since the food was tasty, cheap, and close at hand -- great when I was that age.

[Suzanne F]

Re: Native American: There used to be a place, Silver something, on Broadway just above Houston. We lost it, though. And unfortunately, the Smithisonian museum down in the Custom House doesn't have any concession stand.

[Pan]

I remember writing a paper in 3rd grade or something about Wewish, the acorn bread that's traditional in, I think, Leni-Lenape land (New Jersey, Delaware, etc.). I might not like it, but I'd be interested to try it one of these days.

Which Latin-American cuisine is least represented in New York? Any Paraguayan or Bolivian restaurants?

[mascarpone]

I think you're right.

Does Tibetan count as exotic?

Maybe, but there's been a continuous presence of Tibetan cuisine in New York for many years. Where Mermaid Inn is used to be Lhasa, and there's the place on 9th St. and Shangri-La (I think) on 2nd Av. between St. Mark's and 7th. And that's just in the East Village.

Don't forget the Tibetan Yak in Jackson Heights. It is right near the F/E/7 subway stop.

[lambretta76]

Pan -

Istrian food -

The Istria Sports Club - 28-09 Astoria Boulevard in LIC

The Rudar Sports Club - 34-01 45th Street in Astoria

Friulan -

Famee Furlane - 20-10 127th Street in College Point

Ghanan -

Ebe Ye Yie - 2364 Jerome Ave., Bronx

Kowus - 3396 Third Ave, Bronx

Giftanco - 97-09 57th Ave in Corona

(can't find the Brooklyn one, but I will)

South African -

Madiba (a/k/a i-Shebeen) 195 Dekalb Avenue in Fort Green

Eritrean -

Caffe Adulis - 39 East 19th Street in Manhattan

Massawa - 1239 Amsterdam Avenue

Sarajevan (Bosnian)

Sarajevo Cevabdzinica - 37-18 34th Ave in Astoria

As for the Maltese bakery - I dont' have the address, but it is in Astoria, and I have had its pastizzi which are great. I will try and get this address soon...

[lambretta76]

The Maltese bakery in question:

JMJ International Bakery aka Jmj Baking

3811 23rd St. LIC

[jhlurie]

I knew someone who was once thinking about starting a Cypriot restaurant, but as far as I know the idea never got off the ground. He always claimed there were plenty of dishes which were neither Greek nor Turkish. Would he have had competition in New York?

[rozrapp]

Eritrean -

Caffe Adulis -  39 East 19th Street in Manhattan

The owners of Caffe Adulis closed it more than a year ago and reopened as Lamu. They did away with the Eritrean menu in favor of Mediterranean. We had dinner once at Caffe Adulis. I had a shrimp dish that was sensational, and my husband had a very tasty stew. Lots of interesting flavors, but I guess not enough people were taken with that style of cuisine.

[lambretta76]

I knew someone who was once thinking about starting a Cypriot restaurant, but as far as I know the idea never got off the ground. He always claimed there were plenty of dishes which were neither Greek nor Turkish. Would he have had competition in New York?

Zenon Taverna, in Astoria, has been rumoured to have several Cypriot dishes on the menu.

Zenon Taverna

34-10 31st Avenue (Queens)

Btwn 34th & 35th Streets

718-956-0133

[mascarpone]

I was recently asked about a Tunisian dish called "Grik." I have never heard about this so, out of curiosity, does anyone know of a Tunisian (North African) restaurant that serves "Grik"?

[hillbill]

What about sparsely-represented African cuisines? Any Namibian, Malagasy, or Ugandan restaurants, for example?

Staten Island has Liberian restaurants.

And Sri Lankan.

[Susan G]

Unusual NY cuisines?

How about an Amish place? Where does one go if one has a hankering for an Old Order shoo-fly pie?

[danger_doug]

America, the "I can bring a kids birthday party here" restaurant near Union Square serves Navajo fry bread. I recall it being uneventful, like all of the food there...

[Eric_Malson]

I was recently asked about a Tunisian dish called "Grik."  I have never heard about  this so, out of curiosity, does anyone know of a Tunisian (North African) restaurant that serves "Grik"?

Is it possible you're thinking of a dish called "brik"? If so, I just had it last night. "Brik" is some mildly seasoned chicken (or was it meat? I don't remember) with some soft-cooked egg stuffed between good-sized rounds of phyllo pastry and fried.

If that's it, a Tunisian/Moroccan restaurant called Epice on the UWS has it. I don't remember precisely where it is (we had the food delivered), but it's within one or two blocks of W. 69th and Columbus Ave.

Edited to add re hillbill's post:

I went to New Asha (Sri Lankan) Restaurant on Staten Island with a friend last year. It's quite the schlepp out there from the Columbia U. neighborhood, but the food was truly delicious, especially the black curry and this sort of hash made with egg, meat, spices and chunks of bread.

Edited May 19, 2004 by Eric_Malson (log)

[Pan]

We have some new members now. Anyone have some places to add to this list? Anyplace serving food from La Reunion? (I wish!) Any Manchurian hotpot places? Any Bulgarian places?

According to Eric Asimov (check out his Q&A if you haven't already), the menu of Yangpyung Seoul Haejanguk Restaurant contains some special North Korean dishes. I frankly wouldn't know which ones are which, but have a look at this, published on June 18, 2003, and provided to you by courtesy of the New York Times archive: "$25 AND UNDER; Korean Food That's a Cure for What Ails You."

[lambretta76]

For Bulgarian, the crowds probably have dissapated, so if Mehanata 416 BC is still in business, they are a Bulgarian restaurant. (Its on Broadway south of Canal, 2nd floor)

But since it always looks to be a state of being out of business, one never knows. It's only open at night perhaps Wednesday through Saturday.

And if anyone knows of any Pondicherry-style eateries, I'd love to hear about those.